Posts Tagged ‘The ACB’s’

2011 turned out to be a pretty great year for music. Though it started off a bit slow, an impressive amount of new talent as well as seasoned songwriting vets emerged with stellar releases this year. In some cases, bands and artists returned with their strongest material in years. In others, emerging artists have given us some amazing things to look forward to for the future. And in others still, bands who have been kicking ass for a few years now are, well, still kicking ass. Here are Record Geek Heaven’s Top 20 Albums of 2011: (more…)

First of all, I’d like to issue a formal apology. It’s directed at my readers, for sure, but mostly at myself since that’s the main reason I keep adding to this blog – I’m terribly sorry for not posting anything for the last 4 months. It’s really inexcusable. It makes me feel good to write about music that moves me, and though it makes me feel even BETTER to know a few people are reading this stuff, I would still post it if that wasn’t the case. But really, I’d like to make it a goal to post stuff at least 3 times a week, so that’s what I’m going to aim for from here on out. Thanks again to everyone who reads and comments on RGH – you make my day, and I will have more for you to look at very soon! First off, I will begin my “Best of 2011” column right here, where I will post 3-4 capsule reviews of my favorite 2011 albums in each section. Let’s begin!

Matador Records

Kurt Vile – Smoke Ring for My Halo

Kurt Vile’s wheezy vocal drone has likely caught the ears and hearts of many a disaffected hipster in the past few years. When it comes to his music and general attitude, Vile fits today’s Rock and Roll nativity scene perfectly – he has the balls to point out bullshit going on in the world, but also possesses this Elliott Smith-esque sense of responsibility, as if anything bad happening around him were all his fault. It’s this dichotomy of anger suppressed by an almost laughable guilt that creates Vile’s most usable energy and gives his tunes a bottle-up-and-explode quality (more…)

25. The New Pornographers – Together
The New Porns have always brought some good things to the table, but it can be difficult for me to get through a whole album. Together has made that task a bit less difficult, as it may be the best album from this band yet. It’s definitely the most group-oriented of their efforts, as the title would suggest – four lead singers span the albums songs, and the contributions from Destroyer’s Dan Bejar are some of his best to date. (more…)